THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 63 
From the Giant’s Coffin to the mouth of the 
Cave, wheel-tracks, and the impressions of the 
feet of the oxen used to cart the saltpetre, 
made over fifty years ago, may be distinctly 
seen. The earth. at the time that these im- 
pressions were made, was in a moist condition, 
having recently undergone the process of lixi- 
viation in the manufacture of saltpetre, and, ° 
upon drying, attained an almost stony soli- 
dity. ‘hese tracks are on the immediate route 
of travel, and have been walked over by 
thousands of visitors during a period of sixty 
years. Yet the cleft foot of the ox, and the 
regular indentations of the cart-wheel, can be 
plainly distinguished in the petrified earth. 
At one point we were shown where the oxen 
were fed; and, by the aid of a stick, we suc- 
ceeded in digging out of the dry earth two or 
three impacted corn-cobs, in a good state of 
preservation ; and we are perfectly satisfied that 
they had not been placed there for purposes 
of deception, as has been suggested by some 
parties. 
We were puzzled, at first, to understand 
how the oxen and carts could be got into the 
Cave,—the descent to the entrance being so 
precipitous and the mouth so contracted. The 
